Malcolm Boyle, one of the early leaders of the public relations industry in New Zealand, is retiring from day-to-day industry involvement with Star PR after being diagnosed with a chronic illness. He will however continue to offer top-level consultancy to the firm and its clients, as required.

Boyle has founded three highly successful consultancies over more than 40 years in the industry, and is a hugely respected and well-liked character in public relations, advertising, media and rugby league circles.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with many great people on very challenging projects over many years and I’ll miss that,” says Boyle. “But I do need to concentrate on looking after my health.”

Star PR is now jointly owned by PR industry veterans Alan McDonald and Jill Dryden who will maintain the consultancy’s strong emphasis on corporate and media issues management, stakeholder relations and marketing communications.

“You can’t replace someone like Malcolm so it’s good to know his vast store of knowledge and contacts remains available to Star and our clients,” said Star director Alan McDonald. “It’s business as usual for Star except we’ll be sorely missing Malcolm’s presence and his inexhaustible supply of amusing industry stories around the office.”

Into the Night

The New Zealand short film Night Shift, which was written and directed by Zia Mandviwalla, has been selected out of 4,500 films to be in the final ten competing for the prestigious Short Film Palme d’or a the Cannes Film Festival.

Night Shift is an incredibly moving tale of an airport cleaner trying to make it through another long shift. She does her job, tries not to draw attention to herself and gleans her survival from what others leave behind.

Mandviwalla's previous work has earned her a host of prominent international selections at film festivals in Pusan, Melbourne and London. This is her fourth short film.

“The news that we were selected to screen in competition at Cannes took me completely by surprise," says Mandviwalla, who was born in India and immigrated to New Zealand in 1996. “I am so very honoured and excited to represent New Zealand this year at this prestigious film festival.”

Night Shift was funded through the New Zealand Film Commission’s (NZFC) Premiere Shorts scheme/programme. It was produced by Chelsea Winstanley and Matt Noonan through Curious Films in Auckland and executive producers were Maile Daugherty and Michael Bennett from A Collective Intake of Breath.

"To be invited to Cannes is something every film maker aspires to and dreams of, this is a tremendous acknowledgement of Zia's talent and commitment, and also that of her great team of passionate film makers," says Curious' Matt Noonan. "It's a beautiful film that I'm very proud to be involved with, I can't speak highly enough of Zia and the rest of her crew. I'm excited to be part of the team representing NZ in competition at the French Festival in 2012."

Dann's the political man

Corin Dann is to swap his role as co-host of Breakfast to become TVNZ’s new political editor, replacing Guyon Espiner.

TVNZ's new head of news and current affairs, Ross Dagan, says Dann was picked for the job because of his strong background in politics and economics and his experience in all facets of live television.

“His appointment will secure TVNZ’s strong performance in the political arena. This is an important job in any democratic society and Corin’s track record and professional skills will be an outstanding asset both to the company and to viewers."

Dann says his 15 months fronting Breakfast has been an invaluable experience.

“I’m extremely proud of what we accomplished in a huge news year, which encompassed the earthquakes in my home town of Christchurch, the Rugby World Cup and the Election,” he says. “But politics is my passion and I’m looking forward enormously to getting back to daily journalism in the Gallery. I feel I’ve still got unfinished business there.”

Dann was formerly economics correspondent for Radio NZ, and spent nearly six years in the Parliamentary press gallery as a radio journalist. He will begin in his new position on May 21, just in time for the Budget.

TVNZ will make a further announcement regarding a replacement presenter for the Breakfast programme in the coming weeks.

In with the new

New Zealand’s largest custom research agency TNS New Zealand has announced it will be merging with Research International this month.

The merger is the result of a global integration of the two brands that are both part of WPP, the world’s largest communications group.

The integration process has been underway in countries which both TNS and RI operate since 2009, but the merger in New Zealand represents a significant change to the local market research industry.

Jason Shoebridge, managing director of the new, expanded TNS New Zealand (TNS NZ) business says the larger TNS NZ will further strengthen its business position as the largest custom research agency in New Zealand.

“Currently TNS NZ’s strength lies in the fact that we are the largest, full service research agency in New Zealand. This merger brings further market expertise to the company, widening our footprint in both the public sector and the FMCG industry,” Shoebridge says. “We currently work with some of the largest companies in New Zealand across a wide range of industry sectors, and we focus on taking market research further. While other agencies tend to undertake research and then provide the results, we operate by taking those results and providing further insights and business solutions for our clients."

Following the merger the RI brand will be retired and current RI NZ clients will be integrated into TNS NZ.

The TNS NZ management team also includes director David Thomas and recently appointed director Bindi Norwell.

Tangible additions

A restructure in the Tangible sales team has seen the appointment of Judy Humphris as advertising sales manager across the 'consumer lifestyle' cluster that consists of Dish, Good and Habitat.

Kath Gola has also joined Tangible as one of two key account managers, joining Karrin MacLeod who was previously advertising manager of Habitat.

This is Humphris' first role in New Zealand having previously worked in media planning and media sales in London. Gola has had advertising sales roles at both ACP and Fairfax in the past. And Sandy Fraser has moved from Good on to NZ Retail.

Gunter becomes the hunted

Kiwi TVC and television director Kim Gunter has joined the RedYeti roster and is available for all types of work.

“Getting Kim onboard is a very exciting step for us,” says RedYeti co-owner Alex Lawson. “He has fantastic experience with a wide range of clients, a detailed eye, great rapport with talent, crew and clients and complements our existing director roster nicely.”

Gunter has worked with many of New Zealand’s top brands in his time as a director, including Telecom, KFC, Progressive, Sony, Arnotts, The Warehouse and NZTA. He’s also a well-known face in the world of television with current project Beyond the Darklands set to show later this year.

“Kim brings experience, passion and is a great exponent of drama with a light touch,” says RedYeti co-owner, Karl Lear. “In short he’s a very skilled, accomplished and trusted director that we look forward to seeing in action soon.”

Gunter recently completed his new short film As Above, so below, which traverses the last days of a reclusive choral singer as he searches for meaning in the music he loves. The film is about to be released into the festival circuit.

“I’m very much looking forward to joining the team at RedYeti,” says Gunter. “They are an exciting mix of talent and have fostered a real atmosphere of creativity in a short period of time.”

Study break

As of this month 3dinteractive solely represent Student Job Search (sjs.co.nz), one of New Zealand's largest communities of 18-24 year olds.

SJS offers advertisers the ability to connect the difficult to engage with student demographic with its loyal audience base via a variety of advertising options.

"We are excited to have SJS as part of our network. SJS is an established and respected niche brand in the market place and we look forward to working with them closely and bringing some new ideas to the table," says 3dinteractive’s head of digital media Justine Chevin.

Show me the money

To enable Kiwi consumers to get a greater understanding of their personal finance costs, PriceMe has just launched a new financial comparison tool at www.priceme.co.nz/finance. This new site allows users to view the interest rates and fees that local banks and financial providers charge for their credit cards, home and personal loans etc. It also provides comparison data on what interest you will earn and the applicable fees for various investment and term deposit accounts.

Over the last four years, PriceMe has empowered shoppers with up-to-the-minute information on prices, product reviews and retailer and product ratings, covering a wide range of consumer electronic products, appliances, mobile phones and computers.

“We intend to bring transparency around the quality, attributes and pricing of financial products, so that consumers can make informed decisions in the way we have empowered shoppers with other products” says Chris Palmer, PriceMe’s marketing director. “Consumers can now access independent information around their financial products and services, so they don’t make sub-optimal decisions that could potentially cost them thousands of dollars and lots of time each year."

Information on KiwiSaver as well as health, car and travel insurance will be added to PriceMe Finance shortly, enabling consumers to access information on a broad range of financial products.

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So they're taking a leaf out of Countdown's book and essentially putting products on price lockdown? Meh. Can't even remember the last time I went into a Warehouse but the latest ads with yellow backgrounds are frankly a very silly ...

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Why we like it: The Warehouse is getting real about life's complications. Waiting for a sale can be frustrating and while retail ads often promote particular discounts, this shows a change in The Warehouse's strategy to offer low process every day. It puts the focus on the customer's needs rather than the products, and in turn, makes the retailer a strong competitor in the market.

Who's it for: Fresh by Work Communication and Eight

Why we like it: Who said toilet paper ads had to be boring? Dancing and toilet paper aren't typically associated but the combination of the two makes for quite an intriguing display. And beyond its promotion of the strength and suitability for sensitive skin, the spot is sure to make the toilet paper brand the one of choice for any toilet paper-themed costume parties.

Who's it for: Fire and Emergency NZ by FCB and Tom Sainsbury

Why we like it: Nothing says check your smoke alarms like a bit of cheeky banter between a barbecue and a smoke alarm. The reminder to check your alarms is not a new one, but getting it across with anthropomorphic household items certainly offers a fresh take on the important message. If this first effort is anything to go by, then Snapchat comedian Tom Sainsbury is set to become a staple in local advertising over the next few months.